The instant invention is directed to apparatus and method of recycling finished and unfinished textile waste and scraps such as woven, knitted, tufted and compacted fabrics and converting them into fibers for use in the formation of new fabric.
These textile waste and scrap products may comprise overruns, products which fail to meet desired standards or simply waste during manufacture. Due to the cost of raw textile materials, it is desirable to reuse or recycle as much as possible discarded textile products.
Generally, recycled fibers are destined for use with lower end goods such as carpet backing, upholstery support fabrics which fabrics require uniformity in quality.
The current apparatus available to render textile fabric into fibers requires the use of multiple aligned rolls such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,061,876. These devices are expensive, due to the cost of the rolls. They are also slow because of the multiple rolls or moving parts. Another drawback of the current devices is an inability to reconstitute short fibers, particularly from carpet pile yarns.
Accordingly, it is an object of the instant invention to provide an inexpensive yet durable device for rendering textile fabric into fibers of varying length but especially short fibers.
Another object of the invention is a device for rendering textile product into recycled fibers without the use of pin or toothed rolls.
Another object of the invention is to provide a device for rendering textile fabric into recycled fibers which operate with a minimum of moving parts.
Another object of the invention is the provision of an apparatus for rendering textile fabric formed of short fibers into fibers.
Accordingly, it is an object of the instant invention to provide a machine for converting textile fabric and other textile products through a shearing and compressive action into reusable fibers.
Another object of the invention is the provision of a fiber forming machine which is operative to generally uniformly blend the fiber forming materials during reduction to fiber form.
Another object of the invention is a fiber opening machine which acts to shred and blend textile articles during their reduction to fiber form.